Self analysis and self knowledge: Based on Ātma bodha of Shankaracharya

by Brahmananda Sarasvati

Self Knowledge (or Atma Bodha) is one of the celebrated works by the renowned sage Shankaracharya, who is said to have lived from 788 to 820 AD, during a time when India was in great need of dynamic spiritual renewal. Shankara is considered one of the genius-seers and true masters of the non-dualistic Vedanta philosophy. There have been several useful translations of this classic, but the present volume is unique in its comprehensive scope and insight. Here Dr. Mishra provides extensive lucid commentary on the text, revealing both its profound philosophical implications and its poetic use of metaphor to illustrate the nature of the Self. Throughout these pages, readers may discover a sense of grace, sensitivity as well as scholastic integrity. Any one verse may be used as a contemplative source for meditation or daily inspiration, while the entire text is presented in the original Sanskrit Devanagari script with English transliteration and word-by-word translation for in-depth study.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Shri Swami Brahmananda Sarasvati (with diacritics: Śrī Svāmī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī; also known as Guru Dev, meaning "divine teacher") was an ordained ascetic renunciate or "Sannyas" who later became the Śaṅkarācārya ("teacher of the way of Shankara" within the Hindu religious tradition of Advaita Vedanta) of the Jyotir Math monastery in India during the 1940s.

His leadership has been described as instrumental in re-establishing the Jyotir Math as "an important centre of traditional advaita teaching in northern India" and, along with his development of a system of meditation specifically geared toward the lifestyles of modern householders, drew many thousands of disciples. Among the more prominent of those were Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Shantanand Saraswati, and Swarūpānanda Saraswatī.